


Alien Corn

by Fabrisse



Series: Peppermint Soda [6]
Category: Smallville
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-31
Updated: 2010-10-31
Packaged: 2017-10-13 00:04:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/130630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jonathan talks to Lex and Lex finds out about Clark</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alien Corn

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to wileykit, Rhiannon, Minders, Twistie, and Shawn.

"Mr. Kent would like to see you."

Lex wasn't surprised. "Thank you. After you show him up, have Mrs. Bridges send up some iced tea and sandwiches." He buzzed his secretary. "Jennifer, hold all calls until further notice. If Clark Kent calls, tell him I'll call him around 9 tonight. If my father calls, tell him I'll call before 5. And if anyone on my business list calls, tell them I'm in a meeting and may not get back to them until tomorrow morning. Got that?"

"Yes, Lex. Jane will take over for lunch in half an hour, I'll make certain she has your instructions."

"Thank you." As the intercom clicked off, Jonathan Kent was shown into the room. "Mr. Kent, good to see you."

After a momentary pause Jonathan extended his hand. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice." He sat on the sofa near the fireplace that Lex was indicating. Lex took the chair to his left.

"I'm a little surprised that I haven't seen you before now."

"I promised Clark that I wouldn't. Not until you were exclusive."

"I see."

"Not going to try to deny it?"

"Sandwiches. Thank you, Hudson. I'm not to be disturbed. Jennifer has the phone list and instructions."

"Very good, sir."

Jonathan looked uncomfortable. On the tray was a variety of sandwiches, condiments, and extras. Lex handed him a plate and indicated that he should select and serve himself.

After choosing roast beef and adding some horseradish, Jonathan cleared his throat. "Are you and my son seeing each other exclusively?"

"Haven't you asked Clark?"

"No."

"But you're here, anyway?"

"Answer the question."

Lex thought for a minute. "I'm not the one you should be asking. But ... yes. We've agreed to see each other exclusively." Lex leaned forward and poured two glasses of iced tea from the pitcher. "Mint or lemon? Sugar's to your right."

"Stop it."

Lex looked at Jonathan. "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to clarify. Stop acting as your host or stop seeing Clark?"

"Both. I thought this pansy thing would die a natural death when he started dating Chloe. I don't know what you did to get her to stop seeing Clark..."

"What I did?"

"She's had a crush on him for years. Nothing would stop her with Clark. So you must have done something to her. Did you threaten her father's job? Or bribe her with a scholarship? What did you do Lex? 'Cause Chloe's not the type to just give up."

"Whatever happened between Chloe and Clark, you'll have to discuss with him. For the record, Gabe Sullivan has been instrumental to me, and I would never use him or his daughter like that."

"You did something Lex. You must have. Clark was normal until you came here."

Lex was very proud of himself, his expression hadn't wavered in the least. "If you say so Mr. Kent. May I ask what made you decide that my relationship with Clark had progressed to the point that we're having this conversation?"

"A week ago he came home smelling of chlorine and that spice tea you've introduced him to. Is it drugged?"

"I resent the question. Even when drugs were part of my life, and they most emphatically are not anymore, I never foisted them on someone who wasn't interested. Clark's not interested."

"Maybe not, but he had this huge goofy grin on his face that night. And then Saturday night he came back smelling like liquor. I could have you arrested for that. Wouldn't even need to get into the fact that you're turning my son into a queer."

"What your son is or is not is his business. He's over the age of consent."

"Not for being a faggot. That's illegal in this state at any age."

"Do you and Mrs. Kent ever do anything that's not in the missionary position? Because Mr. Kent, if you do, that's illegal in this state, too."

"How dare you question me about my sex life."

"Mr. Kent. You're Clark's father. You therefore have certain rights where he's concerned, and I'm not just speaking legally, but you have none where I'm concerned. Just as I have none where you're concerned. That was the point I was trying to make.

"Having said that, I apologize about the liquor. The movie upset him, and I offered him a glass of brandy in the limousine without thinking. I won't do it again. Again, for the record, it was less than a glass."

"I could have you arrested."

"Yes. Far more effective than buckshot in this situation. However, I don't think you will because pressing charges means exposing Clark to a lot of questions, and you're not sure you'll like his answers."

"My son. This isn't right. You're an adult. He's a child."

"I'm only barely an adult, not that it would change anything legally. And again, he's over the age of consent."

"So you admit you're fucking my son."

"I admit that I'm dating your son exclusively. Which leaves us at an impasse."

"I could call your father."

"He tried to get me out of Smallville months ago. I bought the plant, and he's in physical therapy for his...injuries. He might disinherit me, but he won't get me out of town. I own this house, through my mother, as well as the factory."

"This is wrong."

"By the way, do you speak for Mrs. Kent?"

Jonathan looked at the in-laid pattern in the floor. "No."

"Does she agree with you? That I'm bad for Clark." Lex could see Jonathan wrestling with the temptation to lie.

"No, she thinks that you're helping 'find himself,' and that he's helping you."

"Mr Kent. I know that you don't think I'm capable of emotion, or at least none of what your grandmother might have called the 'finer' ones, but I love Clark."

Jonathan froze. "That's how you're doing it. Telling him you're in love with him; that's sick."

"I haven't said a word about it. I won't unless he says it first, because I know that the words could bind him to me. I want what's best for him, and I want him to be happy. Right now, I think I'm succeeding in being good for him. I know that we're happy together."

"But all the other things. I hate thinking about the two of you kissing. It's just wrong. And even if I grant you that Clark's happy right now, what about the future? What about all the hate that's going to come to him because he's not normal?"

"If it's any comfort to you, I think Clark's bisexual. There's a good chance that in the future he'll marry and blend in."

"But what if he wants you or someone like you. He has enough battles to fight, and, God knows, as good-looking as he is, he's going to have a lot of people trying to, to..."

"I know what you mean. But as for the battles, he's already fighting them. Not dating me now won't get him back to seeming normal."

"What battles? You mean that fight in the parking lot? Or the one with me?

"Neither. Did you know that one of Clark's teachers tried to embarrass him in front of the class because of our first date? Clark let him because he wanted to protect me. From jail, from town opinion, from you. I don't want to hurt Clark. I hope I won't. You know that he could also hurt me. Badly. And no matter what the future may hold for Clark and me, romantically, for lack of a better term, the most important thing is that he's a good friend. And I don't want to lose that. Ever."

"If you really loved him, you'd end it now."

"No. And if someone had said that to you about Miss Martha Clark, you'd've said the same."

"Her dad did say that to me. We eloped the next weekend. So. If you hurt Clark, more than the end of first love always hurts, they'll never find your body. And, whatever she may think now, Martha will help."

"I don't doubt it, Mr. Kent. Would you care for some dessert?"

Jonathan glanced at his watch, "No, thank you, Lex. I appreciate the sandwiches, though. A suggestion. If you want to fit in around here, don't offer people mint for their iced tea."

Lex gave a half smile, "My mother was Southern. But I'll bear that in mind. Thank you for coming."

They shook hands and Hudson saw Jonathan out.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three Days Earlier

After Men in Black II, Lex had talked to the limo driver. At Clark's request the partition went up and the intercom went off with all the controls in the back seat. They wouldn't be interrupted, and they'd take the long road back to Smallville. If they got there before 11, they'd be left at the castle. Running later, and they'd drive around until drop off at the Kent place.

"All right, we're entirely alone. Well, as alone as we can be." Lex moved to kiss Clark. Clark returned it, but pulled away.

"Lies. I want to tell you the truth. The movie...Lex, I can't say it."

"Clark, I can wait til you're ready."

"You'll wait forever. Remember, I fall into habits easily. It's just...Dammit...I."

"Shhhh. No need to get upset." Lex suddenly found his arms full of horny farmboy. He responded eagerly for several minutes, "You're the only person I know who thinks Men in Black is pornography."

Clark stopped short. "Lex, can you signal the driver to pull over for a moment?" When they'd pulled onto the verge, Clark got out and paced for a few minutes. Lex started to join him, but Clark shook his head. Nearly ten minutes later he was back in the car. Lex signalled the driver to continue.

"I'm sorry, Lex. I want you to know, but..." Lex saw Clark had made a decision. He waited patiently for the result. "Ask me anything, Lex. I'll do my best to answer."

He thought about it for a moment. "All right, Clark. But either of us has the right to call an end to it if it's too much. OK?"

"Yeah."

"Are you effected by the meteors?"

"That's easy. Yes. But not in the way I think you mean. When I'm around them I get sick. It's why I thought I was in love with Lana. That funny feeling in the pit of my stomach which I later found out was the rock in her necklace. Pete and I swiped one of Mom's romance novels for insight into women, and they'd talked about that funny feeling..."

Lex grinned. "So you thought that was love."

"Stupid, right?"

"How old were you?"

"Eleven."

"Not illogical at eleven. How fast can you run?"

"I've never clocked it. But, have you ever had one of those days when everything went wrong and all you wanted to do was run?" Lex nodded his mouth quirked in a little smile. "Well, the last time I did that I ran flat out for twenty, maybe thirty minutes."

"I run that long every day."

"I stopped because I'd hit the Gulf of Mexico."

Lex sputtered on the water he was sipping. He searched Clark's face for traces of joking. "You're serious. You're that fast. It was you on the security tapes?"

"What security tapes? When?"

"When Alexander's breastplate was returned to me."

"Phelan told me they'd all been disconnected. Yes. It was me. He wanted me to steal for him. Maybe kill. When he had my dad taken to jail, I nearly killed him then. It was far too easy."

"God. I'm sorry, Clark. I'd have done anything to keep you from knowing that feeling. I came close to killing once. Not the time that everyone thinks I killed someone, but I know. You know what the most important thing is? Neither of us did it."

Clark gave a silly smile, "We did it just the other night."

"Clark."

"Sorry."

"You're strong too."

"Was that a question?"

"Not really. Clark, I've had some nightmares. In them, I'm in the garage where my Mercedes was burned, and I pull a gun on you and just keep shooting because I'm afraid that if I feel for you that much you'll have to betray me. Did any of that actually happen?"

"I...yes."

"But I missed?"

"No."

Lex stared at him. "Oh."

"You didn't mean it. You were under mind control, and, unlike hypnosis, I think those guys could convince someone of anything. It wasn't you."

"Invulnerable?"

"Except with the meteors."

Something clicked in Lex's mind. "Why do you always apologize for the effects of the meteor shower?"

He was silent for so long that Lex thought Clark was going to call a halt to the questions. Finally, "The meteors came to town when I did. Or, maybe it's better to say that I came with them."

"Clark, you think you just fell out of the sky? Is that why the movie bothered you? You think you're an alien?"

"I'm not crazy, Lex."

"Just delusional." The sharp hurt cutting across Clark's face stopped the laughter in his throat. Lex took a deep breath. "Is there any reason for you to think that you're an alien in the outer space sense? Other than the fact that your adoption coincided with the shower?"

"The pod or capsule or whatever you want to call it that Dad had in the storm cellar. We buried it after that reporter came around, but I can dig it up again if you need proof."

Lex studied the half dejected, half defiant man beside him. He took a small notebook out of his pocket and sketched a shape with his pen. "Does it look anything like this?"

"If you were standing over it. Or it might leave an impression like that." Clark thought a minute. "Dr. Hamilton?"

"Yeah."

The silence lasted forever before Lex said, "You do know that you're not responsible. Even if the rocks landed at the same time you did, you were, what, a toddler? You couldn't have been part of the planning committee for your flight. You might have been put in there before you were born; that's going to be possible here within the decade. There was no way you could know that the rocks would hurt you or that they might cause mutations in others. None. You know that, right."

Clark's lower lip trembled for a moment. When he'd pulled himself together a little he responded, "Intellectually, I know that. But every time I see someone who's been blinded, or suddenly has a weird power that they didn't have the day before, I know that they would still be normal if not for me. Lana wouldn't be an orphan. You'd have hair."

"Clark, my hair is the least of it. It was the meteors. It wasn't you. And I should have known you were an alien, you know."

"Huh?"

"I've seen your giant alien probe."

The last thing Clark had expected was laughter. So much laughter he thought Lex might break his own ribs.

"You don't believe me."

"If I didn't believe you, I wouldn't be laughing." Lex gasped. "Clark, I can't talk yet."

It took ten minutes before he was laughed out. Then his emotions turned on the proverbial dime.

"What were your parents thinking? They should have turned you over to MIT or Metropolis University right away." He saw the look on Clark's face. "Don't worry, I won't do that. And I'm glad they didn't. But the risk they took.

"You could have been the beginnings of an invasion force. What if you had propogated through meiosis? Just divided when you got to your proper weight. And kept dividing? Is the fact that you're so lovable a pheromone you use to protect yourself? And no, I don't really believe that because I've seen a few people who don't like you.

"Jesus, Clark. How long have you known?"

Clark's voice was absolutely flat, "Since you hit me with the Porsche. About nine months."

There was a small stunned pause. When Lex spoke, it was very quietly. "No wonder you felt you had to lie, that you couldn't deal with it. And I must have really helped. Nosy questions, talking about trust. I understand. Why you couldn't tell me. And other than wanting to flay your parents for not taking the proper precautions, I'm not angry. You're a real wonder."

"And you want to catalogue me, don't you?"

Lex finally heard the tone in Clark's voice. "No. Well, a little. Clark, I'm a scientist, and my lover is the greatest scientific discovery on the planet. That's so cool. But, you're Clark Kent, I wouldn't change you or anything that I know about you. If you want to know how fast you run, or how strong you are or anything about your abilities -- Do you have anything else besides those and the invulnerability? -- I'll help you set up the best and most accurate tests. Or I'll let you figure it out for yourself. Nothing has to change..."

When Lex didn't resume, Clark began to panic. "What Lex? Did you figure out something that had to change?"

"Please don't be hurt. I'm human. I have a survival instinct. I'm just realizing how dangerous sex was -- could be. Damn your folks for not telling you sooner."

"Trust me, Lex, puberty was weird enough without that. And if I'd, I don't know, shot a hole in my ceiling or friction burned through the mattress when I had my first wet dream, don't you think that I'd have noticed? And become the world's oldest virgin."

"Clark. I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't deliberately do anything to hurt anyone, including me. But the problem is, you don't know. What if you mate for life? You don't know if you're actually male, your physiogomy may be such that you can get pregnant.

"Or sleeping with you might change me so that I could. That would get my father's attention. 'Dad, you're going to be a grandfather.'

"'I hope the mother's suitable, who is it?'

"'I am.'" Lex opened up the bar and poured himself a brandy.

"Oh God, Lex. It never occurred to me. That I might be that different. Or, or..."

Lex took one look at Clark's face and handed him a brandy, too. He didn't say a word until Clark had taken a sip and made a face at the glass. "You're sixteen. Of course it didn't occur to you, why should it? It's hard enough worrying about all the other things that can happen. And you didn't know about the big difference until a few months ago. I'll take bets that you've been avoiding thinking about it except when you had to. I remember avoiding thinking not all that long ago. Now do you see why I want to serve your parents as sashimi?"

"I think they've been great parents. I admit I've always been on a tight leash, but I love them."

"Of course you do. They're good people who wanted a child. They love you and have guided you and given you a good value system. However, as someone who majored in biochemistry I can honestly say that they may have put the entire planet in danger to do so. I'm angry about that. And I wouldn't change even the smallest thing about you, and I can't help but think that I've seen your 'Giant Alien Probe.'"

The hysterical note was creeping back into Lex's voice. Clark reached out a hand and stroked Lex's arm. He was shocked to find himself with his arms full of Lex. Kissing him, nuzzling him.

"Lex?"

His mouth was plundered and all thought went by the wayside. Clark tasted Lex's brandy when he kissed and licked back.

"It's reaction, Clark. Pure reaction."

Clark gentled Lex down like he would one of the kids he babysat. Arms tight around him, rocking a little. He kissed Lex's temple. "You're taking this better than I would, than I did."

When Lex began to nuzzle his neck again, Clark responded eagerly. The firm touches in all the spots that he knew Lex liked were followed by little nibbles to the scar on Lex's upper lip. Passion built between them; Clark lay back on the seat and pulled Lex on top of him for better access.

An eternity of making out later, Clark tugged at Lex's ear with his teeth. When he heard the little moans that he loved, he whispered gently in the ear under his lips, "Want to suck my giant alien probe?"

Lex fell down on the floor with laughter as he unzipped Clark's fly.


End file.
